Agartala, Mar 19 (IANS): CPI-M legislature party leader Jitendra Chaudhury is likely to be appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Tripura Assembly by Speaker Biswabandhu Sen on Wednesday.

State Assembly sources on Tuesday said that the Speaker invited Chaudhury to discuss the LoP-related issue on Wednesday and would likely appoint him to the post, lying vacant after incumbent, Tipra Motha Party (TMP) MLA Animesh Debbarma quit before becoming minister in the Manik Saha-led BJP government on March 7.

Animesh Debbarma and fellow TMP MLA Brishaketu Debbarma became ministers after the TMP, led by former royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman, decided to join the BJP-led coalition government after signing a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government in New Delhi on their demands for tribal welfare.

In the February 16, 2023 Assembly polls, the TMP won 13 seats and became the second-largest party after the ruling BJP, which won 32 seats while its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) secured one seat.

The CPI-M, which contested the polls in a seat-sharing adjustment with the Congress, managed 11 seats and the Congress bagged three. However, CPI-M MLA from Boxanagar Assembly seat Samsul Haque died on July 19 last year following a cardiac attack and in the September 5, 2023, by-elections, the BJP wrested the seat for the first time. With the victory, the BJP’s tally increased to 33 in the 60-member assembly while CPI-M’s strength went down to 10.